CC0 · no rights reserved
Pil agar
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This albarello drug jar depicts two lions flanking a cartouche that is topped by a crown. The interior of the cartouche has a cross between the letter P at left and the letter A on the right. The jar is very similar in style to the ones seen in objects 1991.0664.0669–.0673. The jar is labeled with the text “Pil. Agar” in black gothic text. The jar would have contained Pillules Agarico, or pills of Agaric. Agaric refers to a fungus formed into a pill with other ingredients such as myrrh and sapa and used as a styptic (to staunch bleeding) and an expectorant.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionCredit linePil agar. 18th century. National Museum of American History, Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. CC0.
